Monday, 29 March 2010

If you've ever read my profile, located on the top left of my blog, you will know that Moschino was the fashion brand that influenced me to do Fashion Design but funnily enough, I don't actually own many Moschino things! I guess the main reason is because of price, but with sites like eBay, there are so many opportunities to get what you want for a more affordable price! So, since I got a Moschino belt for Christmas from my boyfriend (I'll blog about this soon), I've been slightly obsessed with getting more! I particularly like it when the brand name is featured in gold blocked letters, which is incredibly tacky to the point that I feel it hits the other end and actually looks quite funky! Anyway, I found this bag on eBay and won it for a great price! If it was slightly smaller it could be my everyday-bag, but I will be using it as my travel bag instead! I will be looking out for more Moschino things as it's about time I invested in my favourite brand!

Saturday, 27 March 2010

In case you're wondering why I am still publishing entries on the Fall 2010 fashion shows even though they finished weeks ago, well it's simply because there were many collections I still want to mention and I'm trying to stagger them as to not completely swamp my blog!

There were high expectations for the Balmain collection as a couple of the past collections became very high profile. This season, the renaissance-esque collection was quite predictable but I still really liked it and the gold lamé dress with a long back and short front was crazy! There was a nod to Ancient Egypt (which I love) when I saw the jet-black-blunt fringe-straight hair in the Lanvin collection and knew it could only get better! The draped and pleated garments looked stunning and the embellishments and jewellery completely enriched the show!I'm not often excited by the Celine collections as it is predominantly tailoring which, as I have admitted before, is not my most favourite area. However, I adored the leather outfits, such as the sleeveless tailored dress with leather pockets, and the slimline leather-mix pencil dress.

Sunday, 21 March 2010

Back in April 2009, I mentioned that I was starting my first paid Fashion Design job as a Design Assistant (after 18 months of unpaid work placements) for a UK fashion brand... then, 5 months later (September) I was promoted to Junior Designer! Now, 11 months after starting my first job (are you still following?), I will be starting my second job on Monday! The place I am going to is an International fashion brand and is actually where I did one of my many work placements! After being offered the job, I reminisced about my University lecturers who always spoke about having to work for free at the beginning of our Design careers to build up our CV's as there would be a lot of competition. At the time, I wasn't amused and it shattered my notions of finishing University and going straight into a paid job! However, I lived at home with my mother and many places would reimburse my lunch and travel costs, so I had nothing to lose.Looking back, and about to start my second job... I finally feel that my work placements have truly paid off (in regards to opportunities and the knowledge I gained) and I highly recommend that people who want to get into Fashion Design take the same route! My last day at my first job was on Friday and it was sad having to say goodbye to the wonderful people I had met there. I received a ZARA Gift Voucher (my favourite shop at the moment) as a leaving present and a personal gift from someone who I had become very good friends with. She had bought me a pencil pot in the shape of a giant pencil sharpener to use at my new job, and I think it's one of the most amazing pencil pots I've ever seen! She felt it would be funny as people always used my pencil sharpener!

Anyway, this entry is getting incredibly wordy now! If you are looking to get into Fashion Design and have any questions, just ask, I'll be happy to answer them!

Saturday, 20 March 2010

The Givenchy collection was incredibly exciting! Even though there has already been so much lace on the catwalks, I still loved seeing it here! It had typical gothic elements but slightly romanticised. The deconstructed fair isle patterns looked so fresh and made the collection look a lot more interesting. The black-on-black chunky jewel embellishment was beautifully subtle and I adored the feathered touches.I felt that Isabel Marant's collection was super commercial and incredibly easy-to-wear. I loved the prints and the silver hologram-esque paillettes fully covering a pair of trousers were stunning!Haider Ackermann's collection was true beauty. In reference to the first two outfits below, I don't think I've ever seen leather looking so...organic!... and the laser cutting into the leather so that it looked like lace was just sumptuous!

Monday, 15 March 2010

If you've been following my blog, you will know that I adore embellishment! So, when I was rummaging around a Topshop sale a few months ago, and found this jersey corset for £3/$5 (yes £3!!) which I instantly planned to embellish!I already had many studs and stones stashed away, so I started to select two sets of what I wanted to use as I wanted to embellish the bust cups. I decided that with the jersey corset being in grey marl, I wanted the embellishments to be in a silver tone as I felt it was most complimentary so there was a mix of silver studs, acrylic faceted glass sew-on stones, a tiny amount of bronze studs (so it didn't look too shiny with all the silver!) and some mini pink and green caged stones. Although, if I ever find a grey marl jersey corset again in the future, I will definitely challenge myself to use something different!After the embellishments were selected, I started to apply all the big ones first to ensure that they were equally dispersed. I have to admit that it took a lot longer than I thought it would, especially when I started adding the smaller ones which didn't really seem like they were filling up any space for the first 15 minutes! I was so chuffed with the finished result, it was exactly what I wanted to achieve and I hope it is an inspiration to do some embellishing! I also think I used approximately 350 beads/stones/studs!! I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it yet, maybe keep it for styling purposes in my Etsy Shop or I might even sell it at a later date - I will mention it on my blog if I decide to!

Sunday, 14 March 2010

I can't believe this is my 16th blog entry on the Fall 2010 shows! I had to kick it off with John Galliano as it has to be one of the most beautiful collections, from head to toe. It was pure eye candy and I adored the nomadic, gypsy-esque princess theme...but I'm certain there were several other mini themes slithering its way through the whole collection anyway!

There was a similar 'global'' concept within Jean Paul Gaultier's collection, but because of his quirky interpretation of ideas, I think I preferred his collection the most. There were sporty elements that looked very new and I was delighted to see his iconic cone bra incorporated into a chinoiserie dress!

Saturday, 13 March 2010

Paris Fashion Week has been so exciting and the Balenciaga collection completely blew me away! The colours were undeniably refreshing and incredibly innovative. I took a particular liking to the perforated fabric dresses in sorbet shades and the mint coloured loafers!Ann Demeulemeester's collection was entirely her. It was dark, but with beautiful tailoring. However, I absolutely adored the braided cording which was presented in the most unlikely places and gave the collection that 'edge' that made me want to talk about it!The collection by Anne Valérie Hash was soft, relaxed and the pieces that really caught my eye were these two outfits with a distorted frogging pattern in cornelli. It was such a small, simple detail but it looked exceptionally new and with a nod towards militarian femininity.I always adore the collections by Hussein Chalayan as you just never really know what to expect, but you know it's going to make you say 'wow' regardless of it! There were many themes in the collection but I found the full-length glittered dresses most exciting and styling them with 'mirage' glasses was almost exhilarating!

Tuesday, 9 March 2010

I had to interrupt my flow of Fall 2010 fashion shows to review the much anticipated film, Alice in Wonderland! I decided to not attend the cinema on the opening night of Alice in Wonderland (Friday) as 1) I had not booked tickets and 2) I didn't want it to be noisy!So, I went the following day for a 9am (yes, 9 in the morning!) showing with my sister and friend and just as I had hoped, there were only about 7 other people there.The film was fantastic which I completely expected anyway, and the storyline of Alice returning to Wonderland as a 19 year old was easy but without being bland. Alice, who is played by Mia Wasikowska and reminds me of Claire Danes (in her Romeo & Juliet period), was brilliant! When I saw a few photos of the film in production months ago, and saw Mia, I really did not see her as Alice...so I paid a lot of attention to her in the film...her face expressions, speech, movement and everything else was so perfect.Anne Hathaway as the White Queen was extremely amusing, she was so frothy and I really liked how her dark features were accentuated with rosewood red lips and nail varnish... it was these dark touches that I really love about Tim Burton's films.Tweedledum and Tweedledee were adorably hilarious and I wish they had more screen time! One of the things I remember most about the original Alice in Wonderland story, are the talking flowers, and they were depicted in such a wonderful way in this version...I couldn't have asked for anything better!Absolem the Caterpillar was voiced by Alan Rickman and it was such a perfect match! I recognised the voice when I was watching the film but I could not put my finger on who it was! So now that I know who it was and the other characters such as Michael Sheen as The White Rabbit, Barbara Windsor as the Dormouse... I really feel like watching the film again!I knew Johnny Depp would be good as the Mad Hatter and although his performance was pretty much an amalgamation of his Captain Jack Sparrow and Willy Wonka characters, it was still funny! I also really liked his creative skills where he makes Alice a new dress (after she shrinks) and becomes the Red Queen's milliner for a short period.Helena Bonham Carter was naturally great, I've always liked the quirkiness about her which shines through her character as the Red Queen. Her bulbous head was also amusing and the fact that she only liked people with other 'big' things about them!

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Welcome to my blog! I am a full-time Designer in London for a fashion brand... but also have a whole load of other interests including making anything and everything - click on the huge SHOP sign above to check it all out.Also, feel free to use the tags below to navigate my blog posts!